


the only sound is a minute left

by dytabytes



Category: DCU, Under the Red Hood (Cartoon)
Genre: M/M, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-19
Updated: 2010-09-19
Packaged: 2017-10-12 18:37:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/127848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dytabytes/pseuds/dytabytes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Dick had tagged along at the end, instead of nursing his injury?</p>
            </blockquote>





	the only sound is a minute left

_10 seconds left on this dial_

Dick had tried. He had really tried at the beginning, and it was okay for the first bit. Bruce had been following Jason, they were fighting, but it was okay. They weren't really _fighting_ fighting, just feeling each other out. Dick could sit back and watch and smile at his mentor and his brother being stupid at each other.

Then comes the face-off. And the Joker. And the gun.

The moment Jason grabs the Joker, Dick pulls up the magnification on his lenses and starts lip reading. He can't believe what he sees.

"Holy fail, Batman..."

So Bruce is stalling. Even in the face of this, even with Jason needing someone to support him, Bruce is freezing. Of course.

"Guess that's why I came."

Just before Bruce drops his gun, Dick kicks off the building and crashes through the window. At that point, many things happen at once.

Bruce whips around. Jason flinches. The Joker laughs.

He laughs and laughs and laughs and then Dick pulls the trigger and it's suddenly silent.

"Hey there."

The gun clatters to the ground. Bruce is looking at Dick with betrayal in his expression, but for once, Dick doesn't care at all because Jason is smiling. It's subtle, but it's there and it makes Dick's heart swell with pride as he smiles back.

"Hey."

Their eyes meet and something undefinable passes between them. Dick scuffs his toe on the floor and is about to come up with something to say, but Bruce's hand falls heavy on his shoulder with a dull thud. It's not a loud sound, but it echoes through the room and it's enough to startle Jason, who twitches and _moves_.

"See you later, Dickie-boo."

A wink, a smile, and he's out the window.

"Dick."

"Bruce."

Bruce squeezes Dick's shoulder, ignoring Jason for the moment and the look in his eyes tells Dick everything he needs to know. It's not that he doesn't care about Jason. It's that Bruce can't deal with all of this at once, so he's dealing with what he can first.

"... Why?"

Dick frowns, and the expression looks decidedly out of place.

"It had to be done, and you weren't going to do it. So I did."

"Dick. Be reasonable. That wasn't necessary."

"Yes. Yes it was." Bruce looks betrayed, but Dick just snorts and shakes Bruce's hand off. "Family _first_ , Bruce. Didn't you get that memo?"

"That wasn't the decision you were making!"

Dick storms over the closet and yanks the door open, revealing the explosives rigged up within.

"You were distracted by Jason. Lucky you've got me at your back, huh?" As Bruce stares, Dick laughs humorlessly and runs a hand through his hair. "Look, he was going to kill himself with the Joker if we didn't want him, Bruce. So yeah, if I have to choose between the Joker and my little brother, there's no way I'm saving the psychopath!"

Dick knows that he's too angry to continue this discussion rationally, so he mutters a "God, let's talk later, I need air.", and leaps out, following in Jason's footsteps. Bruce is left standing in the middle of the room, contemplating the Joker's remains.

==

Dick doesn't go home right away. He knows that Bruce will be going there first, needing to fill in his logs and sort out his mind and get out all the confusion by beating some dummies into submission. Obviously, being around when he's in that kind of mood is asking for a no-holds barred argument.

So Dick doesn't head for the mansion and just jumps over the rooftops until he finds himself at the Dairy Queen. He sits on the ledge of the roof, eating his shake with a spoon. It brings good memories back, memories of warm summer nights and completed missions and laughter. It's in the middle of one of these reminicenses that a thump on the roof startles Dick to attention.

The sound wasn't heavy enough to be Bruce, and not light enough to be one of the new kids. Dick is smiling before he finishes twisting around.

"Strawberry? Really?"

"What can I say? I'm a fan of the classics."

Jason wrinkles his nose.

"But it's _pink_."

He pads closer, but doesn't sit down. Dick takes the initiative and stands, offering his shake with a playful waggle of his eyebrow. He feels somewhat like he's luring in a skittish wild animal.

"C'mon, you can't knock it 'til you try it!"

A beat passes, then Jason laughs and shakes his head, closing the distance.

"Well, maybe a taste."

Dick pops his spoon into his cup and offers it again with a smile, expecting Jason to try a bite. He really should have known better than to try to predict Jason's actions.

Jason moves in and around Dick's outstretched hand, right into his personal space. Dick sees a flash of a smile on Jason's face. Then Jason is close, tongue flickering out to lap at Dick's lips, feather-light.

He leans back a little, frowns slightly while he takes in Dick's shocked expression, but apparently he likes what he sees, because he laughs and ruffles Dick's hair.

"Yeah, okay, maybe it's not so bad... if you add a little twist to it."

Shellshocked, Dick moves his fingers to his lips, which are still tingling in the aftershock of the unexpected kiss. He blinks when he realizes that they're tipping up into a smile.

"Oh."

He meets Jason's eyes and suddenly recognizes the worry and fear in his expression. He knows what it's like to crave acceptance.

" _Oh._ "

Dick smiles wider and rests a hand on the small of Jason's back, delighted when he feels the tension whisk almmost immediately out of his body.

"Yeah..."

Jason smiles nervously, so Dick instinctively moves to cut the tension.

"So... You wanna share?" He licks his spoon with a smirk, then leans in, eyes hooded. Jason moves to meet him. They kiss for what seems like forever, moving against each other with the ease and passion that come with shared experience and mutual desire.

Dick is panting when he pulls away, trying to catch his breath in the face of the desire that's burning through him. When Jason makes a disgruntled whine, though, Dick can't help but laugh and pull him in closer, pressing their chests together.

"Well _somebody's_ eager."

Teasingly, he brushes his lips against the corner of Jason's lips with a wicked smile on his face and hums delightedly when Jason growls and pulls Dick in for another kiss, hungry and deep.

"My place. Fifteen minutes."

"What, not here?"

Jason rolls his eyes and leans in close enough that Dick can feel his breath whispering over his ear.

"150 Branson, Apartment 4B. There's a sticky bomb set up at the door, but if you unhook the tripwire, you can come in from the fire escape. It's tricky, but if you're good, you'll be able to get it."

"And what if I'm not feeling very good?" Dick lets his hand slip down the curve of Jason's back and squeezes ever so slightly. "What if I'm just feeling really ... bad?" The slight catch of Jason's breath and the shiver that runs down his spine is Dick's reward.

"Just... don't be late."

Jason twists and jumps off the roof, lightning fast, as if he's being chased by a bat out of hell. Honestly, that's not such a stretch of a metaphor, considering Bruce's neurotic tendencies.

Dick barely takes the time to toss his shake into the dumpster two stories down before he sets off from the opposite side of the building, plotting a route to get himself to Jason's address in as close to fifteen minutes as he can make it.

 _I have a feeling that teasing Jason is going to be my new favourite hobby..._

==

Dick cuts the tripwire and eases it down with grace and finesse born from long years of experience. The moment he finally crawls through the window, a hand shoots out of the shadows and pulls him in.

Jason kisses like he's drowning, hard and fast and sucking. His hands are all over Dick's body, pulling at the hidden catches in his costume and stripping him with desperate efficiency.

"God, what took you so long?"

Dick laughs and slips his hands under Jason's jacket, moving slow in the face of Jason's haste.

"You said fifteen minutes and I'm a timely sort of guy."

By the time the jacket hits the floor, Jason is already working at Dick's belt.

"Yeah, but I meant fifteen _seconds_. Wasn't that obvious?"

Dick gasps, then sucks at Jason's earlobe before feathering whispers and kisses down his jaw-line in retaliation.

"Patience, little bird. Didn't you learn that lesson?"

Snorting, Jason shoves his hand into Dick's pants and growls, "Patience is for other people. I haven't been fucked for _five fucking years_."

Dick chokes back a moan and lets his head fall, biting down hard on the web of muscle connecting neck and shoulder. He hasn't been this hard in forever and the heavy heat pooling in his belly is delicious.

"I wish I had something to say but-" Jason's belt buckle finally gives way to Dick's fumbling, so he gives up on speaking and tugs Jason free of his pants, smearing the pre-cum leaking from the head of his cock with the pad of his still-gloved fingers.

"Oh _fuck_."

Jason bats Dick's hands away and surges forward, shoving Dick's back into the wall as he grinds their hips together. Dick's vision shocks white and he scrabbles at Jason's shoulders, trying to find a grip. It's so hard to stay coherent, and he loses himself in the friction of Jason's cock against his own, slick and hot and perfect. He settles for pulling Jason down and muttering a running litany of dirty talk into his ear.

"Oh god, yeah. Just like that. C'mon, more- Ah! Fuck, Jason!"

They don't move with any sort of rhythm, rutting against each other in the dark like animals until Jason groans and shoots hard enough to splatter his own chin, fingers tight around Dick's hips. Dick moans even as he winces, knowing full well that Jason's grip is going to leave a pattern of very unique bruises that will mark him for days.

That thought sends _him_ over the edge, panting and whimpering Jason's name as he goes.

Spent and sated, the two of them slide down the wall in a messy tangle of limbs and clothes, too tired to bother giving themselves more than a cursory wipe.

"Why didn't we do that earlier?"

Dick snorts and flicks a lock of hair off Jason's forehead with surprising gentleness.

"Well, you _were_ sort of being a psycho, I think."

"Hn..."

Jason doesn't respond and Dick gives him an out by pulling him close until his head is resting on Dick's shoulder. With a sigh, Jason tips his head so that his nose is buried into the crook of Dick's neck. All Dick can hear in the night is their breathing, slowly synchronizing as they rest. In. Out. In. Out. Somewhere along the line he falls asleep.

==

The next morning, Dick wakes up with empty arms and a crick in his neck. He's disappointed until he notices the note pinned to his shirt, still crumpled in the corner.

Curious, he picks up the scrap of paper and laughs. The red R stands out on the yellowing piece of card, browning as it dries. The sheer melodrama of using blood of all things to sign a note is completely and totally Jason.

"Yeah, I'll see you soon, Jaybird."

Dick tucks the note into his utility belt and heads home. If he's lucky, Bruce will be at work and he can beg Alfred to make him some pancakes. He always plots best over good food.


End file.
